User:Defender0/ENES-100/project 3

Week1 Narrative
Over the weekend, I looked over the force trainer and looked for a way to possibly mount an Arduino into it, as well as hook up the Arduino to the logic board of the force trainer. I still need to find a way to fully open the force trainer without causing any damage to circuits or wires, due to the force needed to open the casing.

My Second Task
This week, I am going to figure out exactly which pins i need to connect from the force trainer to the Arduino, and write down exactly which ones go where. There is a picture with the necessary pins labelled that I can use to help set up the connecting cable to the Arduino | Force Trainer Serial Port with labels

Also, I plan to find an ideal place on the force trainer to mount the Arduino, and the possibility of mounting the Arduino on the outside of the trainer may be necessary. Measurements will need to be taken of the inside of the case possibly, but simple trial and error testing for places to mount the Arduino can be done as well.

Week2 Narrative
This week, i managed to attach the Arduino to the force trainer itself, using a holder and 2 pipe cleaners to hold it together. Now, it is very easy to attach any kinds of wires to the Arduino, whether they are from the force trainer or from another source.

My Third Task
The next task is to figure out how the code for the heart pulse sensor works and get the required ports for the Arduino, and then, once the code is working, test the pulse sensor with the actual Force Trainer to see if everything works together. However, I do not currently have the built pulse sensor, so this must be taken care of.

Week3 Narrative
So far this week, i have identified 3 of the 4 ports i will need for connecting the logic board to the Arduino. Currently, RX, TX, and GND have been found on the Arduino, but VCC has not been located at all, so Vin is being used as a replacement. While this could pose a problem, it might actually be unnecessary as VCC is power. The Arduino needs to be able to get data from the logic board, which is sent from RX and TX, since GND is ground.

Each of the wires coming out of the force trainer base have been labelled and matched to corresponding Arduino ports, including VCC, which, after plugging the wire into the Arduino and the Arduino into a USB port, was enough to power up the force trainer.

Also, I have decided to set aside the coding aspect of this project as I do not have the pulse sensor to test with. If I can get the Arduino to collect data from the force trainer, then any EEG related data can be used to activate the force trainer, and at that point I can work with a sensor to get it to work if time allows.

My Fourth Task
The next step in this is to find a way to test the input/output of the logic board interfaced with the Arduino. This can be done by using the force trainer as it is normally used, and then using the Arduino to measure the data sent out of the logic board as it recieves it from the headset. The challenge here is determining how to view the data collected, if possible. This will need, bare minimum, some sort of Arduino program that will output any data collected onto a window on a computer screen, and I will be downloading and installing this program once I get home. Once I have the program running, I will turn on the force trainer, hook up the Arduino to my computer, and generate as much brain activity as possible while a serial monitor collects data.

Week4 Narrative
Over the weekend, I attempted to use the force trainer to send data from the logic board to the Arduino, and then from the Arduino to a serial monitor on my computer screen. However, this did not work, leading me to realize that I would need a program to tell the Arduino to send the data to the serial monitor.

However, the Arduino is definitely connected to the computer, as was demonstrated by the fact that the Arduino supplied power to the force trainer through the USB cable.

The next thing to do for this is to get the pulse sensor set up and working with the Arduino to operate the force trainer, however that will have to be done by anyone who takes up the project.

CDIO page